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Senate · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SB 535: Mental Health; the re-creation of community service boards; provide

Last action July 1, 2026 · Effective Date

A Georgia Senate bill would re-create the state's community service boards, which provide mental health and disability services, and shift authority over their executive directors from local boards to the state's behavioral health commissioner, effective July 1, 2026.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia's community service boards deliver mental health, developmental disabilities, and addictive disease services through boards appointed by county governments. Current law was last updated to re-create these boards in 2014, and this bill re-creates them again as of July 1, 2026, while restructuring how they are run. The biggest change is to the executive director position. Instead of being hired and set by each local governing board, executive directors would generally be appointed and removable by the commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and become state employees, though people already serving as executive directors get a choice by August 1, 2026 to stay employed by their local board under a three-way contract. The bill spells out new day-to-day powers for executive directors (hiring, firing, contracts, clinical policy) and lets governing boards delegate other duties to them. It also adds commissioner approval as a new requirement when a board wants to convert into a nonprofit, a county agency, or part of a hospital authority, and it drops the requirement that community service board teleconference meetings have half the board physically present in one place.

What the bill does

  • Re-creates all community service boards effective July 1, 2026, and reconstitutes their governing boards, continuing existing contracts and obligations.
  • Makes the executive director a required member of each governing board and generally has that person appointed and removable by the DBHDD commissioner rather than hired locally.
  • Lets current executive directors choose by August 1, 2026 to remain community service board employees under a three-party contract instead of becoming state employees.
  • Grants executive directors new specific powers, including hiring and firing staff, terminating contracts, and setting operational and clinical policy for the board.
  • Adds a requirement that the commissioner approve any decision by a community service board to convert into a nonprofit, a county government unit, or part of a hospital authority.
  • Removes the requirement that at least half of a community service board's members be physically present in the same room during a teleconference meeting.

Who it affects

Community service boards and their governing board members, current and future executive directors of those boards, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and its commissioner, county governments that appoint board members, and the people who receive mental health, developmental disability, and addictive disease services from these boards.

Why it matters

Day-to-day control of local mental health and disability service agencies would shift from locally appointed boards toward the state agency that appoints and can remove executive directors. Georgians who rely on these services could see changes in how their local board operates, is staffed, and is held accountable, and county officials would have less say over who runs them.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 and 2 update definitions in O.C.G.A. §§ 37-1-1 and 37-2-2, including a new definition of 'executive director' tied to the revised Code Section 37-2-6.1.
  • Section 3 re-creates community service boards effective July 1, 2026, adds the executive director as a governing board member, and requires the department to issue unified bylaws by December 31, 2026.
  • Section 4 rewrites Code Section 37-2-6.1 so that, starting July 1, 2026, the commissioner appoints and can remove executive directors, who become department employees unless they elect by August 1, 2026 to stay with the board under a three-party contract.
  • Section 4 also gives executive directors authority to recruit, hire, discipline, and fire staff, terminate contracts, and set operational and clinical policy, and requires executive director approval before a board can borrow money or sign most contracts.
  • Section 5 requires commissioner approval, in addition to existing board and county approvals, before a community service board can convert to a nonprofit, county unit, or hospital authority component (O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6.4).
  • Section 6 requires Governor approval, alongside the governing board and county governing authorities, before a community service board can cease operations (O.C.G.A. § 37-2-6.5).
  • Section 8 amends the state's open meetings law (O.C.G.A. § 50-14-1) to drop the requirement that half of a community service board's members be physically present for teleconference meetings.

From the bill

“On and after July 1, 2026, except as otherwise provided in division (ii) or (iii) of this subparagraph, each executive director shall be appointed and subject to removal by the commissioner and shall be an employee of the department.”

This is the core change moving control of executive directors from local boards to the state commissioner.

“Any individual employed as an executive director as of June 30, 2026, shall continue to serve as executive director of such applicable community service board on and after July 1, 2026.”

Current executive directors keep their jobs through the transition and get a choice about their future employer.

Discussed in meetings (12)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. Senate Health and Human Services Committee, February 23, 2026

    From 0:06:45 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute intended to make community service boards operate more consistently and give the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities greater oversight. The sponsor described the state's 22 boards as safety-net mental health providers whose effectiveness and operations vary. The sponsor said the substitute changes governing board membership, appointments, eligibility and term limits; requires bylaws; and gives the commissioner authority to appoint executive directors beginning July 1, 2026. The sponsor also described provisions allowing boards to convert to nonprofits, county government units or hospital authority components under specified conditions, and setting rules for closing operations, legal venue and teleconference meetings. A committee member asked whether certain definitions were being deleted. The sponsor and an agency representative clarified that those definitions were being relocated, not changed in that section. The committee unanimously approved the substitute.

  2. Senate Rules Committee, February 25, 2026

    From 0:37:49 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor described the bill as a Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities measure that would reorganize community service board governance to make it more consistent statewide. No substantive questions followed. The committee later unanimously included the bill on the floor calendar.

  3. Senate floor session, February 26, 2026 (legislative day 25)

    From 4:25:32 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented SB 535 as a Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities proposal to strengthen oversight of Georgia's 22 community service boards. The sponsor described the boards as the mental healthcare safety net and said services had been inconsistent across the state. The sponsor said the bill would reform governing boards and allow the department to set uniform minimum service requirements. The sponsor reported support from the Georgia Association of Community Service Boards and ACCG. The clerk's reading also described changes to rules for teleconference meetings. No senators asked questions or spoke against the measure. The Senate adopted the committee substitute without objection and passed it 45 to 2.

  4. House Public and Community Health Committee, March 10, 2026

    From 1:03:23 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 535 would reorganize community service board governance to improve consistency statewide. The chair described a state-employed executive director, retirement protections for an existing board employee moving into that role, and board education requirements. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities commissioner said two boards had required state takeovers after financial failures costing several million dollars, and another was close to that point. Members questioned conflicting instructions from state leadership and local boards, executive director dismissal and loss of local independence. The commissioner said dismissal language was unchanged from the previously approved House version and revisions developed with the community service board association had secured its support. A Georgia Mental Health Policy Partnership witness responded to earlier concerns about investigations, contracting, command and property ownership, saying boards would remain separate legal entities and retain employees and property. The discussion did not establish that the organization raising those concerns had withdrawn them. A NAMI Georgia witness supported accountability while retaining community input. A parent described unavailable local services, a year-long hospitalization and lengthy travel for care, supporting stronger oversight. Other members supported statewide consistency. The committee approved a do-pass motion by voice vote; no numerical count was stated.

  5. House Rules Committee, March 16, 2026

    From 0:25:01 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor described SB 535 as a Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities proposal to strengthen community service boards and increase accountability. The sponsor said it matched legislation already passed by the House and had agreement from the Association of Community Service Boards. No questions were asked. The committee later placed the bill on the floor calendar without stated opposition.

  6. House floor session, March 16, 2026 (legislative day 32)

    From 2:50:20 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2676

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said SB 535 would make community service boards more consistent so people with mental illness could receive the same basic services across Georgia. The presenter said it matched a measure the House had passed the previous week and would allow the commissioner to appoint executive directors who would become state employees. Asked who would have final authority, the presenter said the commissioner would if necessary, while executive directors would work with boards toward agreement. An opposing member warned that the change would weaken local control, particularly in larger counties. The opponent cited roughly $15 million allocated by DeKalb County for a new facility and questioned transferring authority to the state over locally supported services. The House passed the bill 130-31.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-07-01Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-05Act 412
  3. 2026-05-05Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
  4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
  5. 2026-03-16House Passed/Adopted (House)
  6. 2026-03-16House Third Readers (House)
  7. 2026-03-12House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  8. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)
Show full history (15 actions)
  1. 2026-03-03House First Readers (House)
  2. 2026-02-26Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
  3. 2026-02-26Senate Third Read (Senate)
  4. 2026-02-25Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  5. 2026-02-24Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
  6. 2026-02-20Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  7. 2026-02-19Senate Hopper (Senate)

Sponsors

  • Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-32)Primary sponsor
  • Sharon Cooper (R, HD-45)

Votes

  1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 26, 2026

    45 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 7 excused)

    PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE: Senate Vote #597

  2. PassedHouse voteMarch 16, 2026

    130 yea, 31 nay (5 not voting, 10 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #710

Topics

  • mental health services
  • community service boards
  • disability services
  • behavioral health department
  • local government boards

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SB535: Mental Health; the re-creation of community service boards; provide | Georgia Commons